What this Election Means to Me: HBCU students comment in a few paragraphs

By WESLEY WRIGHT

Fall 2024

Election season is here, and this year marks the first time an HBCU alum has become a presidential candidate. Democratic Presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard University alumna, would be the first Black woman and HBCU graduate to hold the position if elected in November.

We spoke with HBCU students about their feelings regarding the upcoming election. For many, Harris’s candidacy represents a significant milestone and source of pride; however, it does not outweigh their concerns about policy.

Jordan Coxx

Prairie View A&M University

“This election is extremely important, because this is my first presidential election that I'm actually able to vote for since  I just turned 18. It's also important, because during a time like this, the way the world is going, change needs to be done. And I feel like voting  is the first step to change actually being done correctly and not letting history repeat itself.

Kamala Harris, being a Howard alum, makes it a  great time to be at an HBCU. She is a  candidate discussing proposals to eliminate student loans while others are discussing raising college tuition. So I feel like overall, this affects not only HBCU students, but all college students altogether.

The thing that inspired me to vote so much honestly, is because my mother always taught me to speak for myself and have my own voice, and I just feel like it's detrimental to the outcome for all young adults to  participate.

I’m not sure if a lot of students are really aware of things like, for instance, the debate came up. Our school pushed it extremely hard. But I don't really know how many students truly watched it.

I want to feel like I am being represented correctly. I feel like I want my voice to be heard over anything, especially being  a young African American male, it's extremely hard to feel like your voice is being heard, so I feel like with the right person in the office, that could change tremendously.”

Reygan Mullins

Grambling State University

“For me as a woman, I just feel like women's rights need to be women's rights, and women's freedoms need to be women's freedoms, and I feel like that's what Vice President Kamala Harris  is fighting for. Women's bodies need to be ours, and we need to have the freedom over our bodies. A specific issue I’m most concerned about in this election is the abortion bans. It really creates a sense of anxiety in my body. I'm not thinking about having kids anytime soon, but I feel like me as a woman and someone who goes to school in the south, the outcome of this election could affect me in a way that I won't think about at the moment, but in the long run, it's something that could be detrimental for not only me but other women in my same situations.

In this election student participation is incredibly important. Our voice matters more than we think, because we take up a large amount of voting, because we are the new adults. For the next four years, it's going to be us, it's going to be us paying taxes, us paying for the gas and matters like that.

I just feel like the student body takes up a large amount and they don't realize it. Oh, my little HBCU. But if all of the HBCUs in America got together and had one message, and we pushed that message. It could be very life changing.”

Jeremy Samuel

Morehouse College

“This election will determine the next four years of my life, and probably determine the next 20 years of this nation.

It feels like it's Republicans versus Democrats and that America wants us to be against each other.

I think this is the first time I ever felt like  everybody thinks the other person is the bad guy, and it's unfortunate that it has been this way. I wish there was a way for us to be united. 

I think this election will change the future in the United States.

If Kamala Harris does win, or when she wins, no bias here. I think there will be an increase of HBCU applications, because once you see somebody that looks like you, or that doesn't look like the majority, doing something phenomenal, something inside of us tells us that we can be in that position as well.

Voting is your job as a citizen, it's like the one thing you have control over in the government. I think it's being pushed more now than it ever has before, but I still think people need to do their own research to eliminate the bias and allow yourself to think as an individual rather than the sheep. Because ultimately, the decisions you make now in life will affect you 10 years down the road.”

Cherissa Shephard

Hampton University

“Kamala Harris could be our first woman of color president, which is very important. If Kamala Harris wins I feel like the sky would be brighter, the world would be happier. Everyone would just be in a good mood, and a lot of things would change, but for the right reason.

There hasn't been a lot of talk about voting on campus, at least to my knowledge. We did have a big watch party for the presidential debate, but that was the only thing they brought up. So the political engagement needs to be a lot stronger on campus.

I think it’s where I'm at, because Hampton is really its own little bubble, like it's just full of the black students who go to Hampton University, but the second you step out of Hampton, it's Trump everything. It's kind of scary.

The message I  would like to share with other  students about the importance of voting and being politically active is that your vote does count. We're literally the next generation. Yes, we're freshmen, but we're all old enough to vote, and we should use that to our advantage, because we could change the country.”

Sierra Cooksey

Morgan State University

“After watching the debate, I feel like what this election means to me is that I'm going to be part of giving everybody else a voice. What I mean is that with issues like Project 2025, I feel more informed now and I’m able to give a voice to those who can’t vote or aren’t in a position to do so .I'm excited to be able to vote, and to be able to know that, I'm putting a part into helping the community.

I feel like if Trump does win the election, then my family, my household will be greatly affected since there will be an increase in taxes on middle class families., it will also affect me being a woman simply because somebody can be put into a position to be able to overthrow our rights. 

I feel like the election has kind of brought our HBCU closer. They're promoting more about the elections. I was talking to a leader in an organization that I was planning on joining, and she was talking about how this is the first time our school has actually committed to voting. She said people haven't really been committed to voting since Barack Obama was running. This year, though, they’ve registered the most people to vote because people are actually excited about voting and the possibility of new change in the world.

When I first came on campus, I was not going to vote because I didn't want to go through the whole process of having to register, and I didn't really know how to and I didn't know if there was going to be anybody out there to help me. But then yesterday, I did end up registering to vote. While I was coming from my math class, somebody came up to me and asked me if I wanted to register to vote, and I was actually excited to register to vote. 

I really do feel like your one vote can change  the whole outcome of what can happen. And I feel like if you have the right to vote, then you should.”